Eternity and Time

Eternity is not a Measurement of Time

“Eternity and Time: two entirely separate things, we explain, ‘the one having its being in the everlasting kind, the other in the realm of process, in our own universe’. … What then does Eternity mean to those who describe it as something different from Time? … What definition are we to give to Eternity? … It must be at once something in the nature of unity and yet a notion compact of diversity, of a kind. … We sum all into a collected unity once more, a sore life in the Supreme; … a life never varying, nor becoming what it previously was, the thing immutable itself, broken by no interval; and knowing this, we know Eternity.” ~Plotinus

Eternity and Time

Plotinus’ explanation of time and eternity is difficult to follow and the above quote is only a small part of it. The basic idea is really simple. Most people tent to relate the two words and think that Eternity simply means a very long time. A length of time so great that it cannot be measured. But that is not correct. Eternity is not a measurement of time, but a complete denial of it. In short, in a place where eternity exists, time cannot. Likewise, in a place where time rules, eternity cannot dwell. So what are they?


Plotinus goes through a long explanation of why eternity cannot be considered repose simply because time is often thought of as measuring movement. It would mean that the eternal cannot move, yet there are eternal principles or forces that are in constant motion. Eternity is not divisible, while time is. We can break up a year into months, months into weeks, weeks into days and so on. We cannot do that with eternity. You cannot have a half-eternity, or a tenth of eternity. That turns eternity into a large amount of time, and that is not what it is. You might even think of it as anti-time, a force that opposes time and all it stands for. Continue reading “Eternity is not a Measurement of Time”

Eternity and Time

Eternity is not a Long Time

“’The idea of eternity without time is not quite clear to me, although I catch an imperfect conception of the argument advanced. …
‘I simply give you the words of my guide,’ he replied, ‘but you have expressed the idea about it as well as your word language will admit. Such a conception of eternity is more rational to one who, like myself, has lived through an instant that covered, so far as mind is concerned, a million years of time, than is an attempt to grasp a concept of an eternity, without beginning or end. … You have the germ of the idea which may be simply a thought for you to ponder over; you can study the problem at your leisure. Do not, however, I warn you attempt to comprehend the notion of eternity by throwing into it the conception of time as men accept that term.’” ~John Uri Lloyd

All Time

Time, as our human mind understands the concept, implies change. That change includes a beginning and an end. Everything that is subject to time must have had a beginning. And a thing that had a beginning, logically must have an end. It is wishful thinking on the part of materialists to believe that the physical universe will exist forever, while at the same time they accept that it had a beginning, generally known as “The Big Bang”. If the Big Bang, in whatever form it was, created this universe, then there will be a Big Pop that will end it. The exact form of either is debatable at this point. Most likely, though, the “Big Pop” won’t happen in one Earth day, or one Earth week, but over a period of time that may be centuries as we measure time.

A Land of Eternity

The physical world had a beginning, known to most of us as “The Great Fall” though science prefers to call it “The Big Bang”. But even the most materialistic of scientists say that there was something in existence before the Big Bang, which they generally call “The Singularity”. Spiritual people have a different way of seeing this. To us, the worlds (or dimensions) of spirit have always existed, and therefore were around long before the physical. (It is impossible to talk about this without using time terminology since we are such time-oriented beings on the physical and mental levels of being). The physical realms were created by altering some of the spiritual (splitting it, slowing it down, changing it’s vibration rate, etc.) If the spiritual worlds had time also, they would need to have had a beginning, which they don’t.

Eternity is not Time

Eternity does not mean a very long time. It doesn’t mean an infinitely long amount of time. Eternity doesn’t mean a great amount of time anymore than a bear is a really big mouse. Eternity means time doesn’t exist. Period. So let’s consider what that implies.

Time VS Eternity

In a land of time, beings are born, age, and eventually die. In Eternity, things are not born, therefore do not age, and do not die.

With Time, one needs to eat regularly to keep there energy level high enough to continue to live. With Eternity, the flow of spiritual Light continuously “feeds” the spirits so they never hunger, never starve (unless they foolishly leave that realm).

In time, beings need to work, be active, then rest or sleep to recharge. In Eternity, the activity of the spiritual being is continuous.

With time, you have to plan for change, or just let it carry you all over like a piece of driftwood. With Eternity, you continuously move toward the Great Center, the place where we are united with God.

I know some of that sound like time and change do exist in the spiritual realms, but that is only because all human language is very time oriented (think of the three tenses of many words) so it impossible to describe Eternity in any other way. But that doesn’t change the fact that Eternity means time just doesn’t exist in those realms.

Eternity and Time

Time, Space and the Timeless World of Spirit


The Paradox of Time


The Great Fall when some of the angels turned away from God and started there own universe of matter could not be eternal, and most spiritual teachers and writers agree that it isn’t. So how could it come into existence from an eternal world of spirit? Continue reading “Time, Space and the Timeless World of Spirit”


Spherical Consciousness


